Project partners:

• HECHT ELECTRONIC AG, Besigheim
• Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Berlin
• sequa gGmbh, Bonn
• Niger State College of Education, Minna, Niger State, Nigeria

Project title:

Qualification programme in modern measurement technology within the furniture industry, for trainees and companies, for the improvement of production standards in Nigeria.

How did we get to Nigeria? Our journey led us all the way from Minsk, Belarus to Abuja.
The Niger State College of Education has already been working in cooperation with the ICP vocational training centre in Minsk. The teachers from Minna, Nigeria are also trained at the vocational training centre in Minsk, where they can put their teaching skills into practice as well. The training laboratory, which we set up at the vocational training centre in Minsk between 2009 and 2012, serves as an exemplar for the vocational training centre in Minna, with teachers from Minsk also present in Minna to provide support. As a company, Hecht has the international language skills to enable us to communicate with everyone directly.

How will the DeveloPPP project in Nigeria be realised?
The first step was to plan and determine exactly which systems needed to be provided for the vocational training centre in Minna. This was done by Günter Hecht, Michael Hettich, Provost Prof Faruk Rashid Haruna and Dr Abdulkadir Hassan, at the Hecht plant in Ottmarsheim. The centre will become a centre of excellence and a multiplier for the country.

The training laboratory will be set up and run according to western standards.
As we did for our project in Minsk (2009-2012), we will deliver entire computer workstations, together with software for programme creation directly at the measuring tables.

The measuring tables range from manually operated models, such as the PC-DesQ, to fully automatic systems equipped with optical inspection control via cameras and scanner technology, such as the Opto-DesQ.

Selected teachers from the college are being trained as master trainers. Intensive training, both theoretical and practical, will be provided. Teaching syllabuses and examination documents are compiled to offer pupils and students various courses.

In addition to measuring tables, various manual and automatic saws for both metal and wood have also been provided. These saws have been fitted with Exenso length stops and can be controlled both manually and fully automatically.

For the training programme, it is important for pupils and students of the college to receive practical experience, and to understand the processes involved. Practical exercises and experiences will enable participants to become qualified in the field, thereby improving their professional opportunities and allowing them to further strengthen the nation’s economy.

This training programme should help reduce unemployment and enable young people to establish small and middle-sized companies which, in turn, will strengthen the economy of the country as a whole.

What is our goal?

• Training by master trainers, as multipliers on site
• Software training and updates to ensure current status is maintained after completion of the project
• Synergetic effects through the building of strong economic relationships between the Federal Republic of Germany and Nigeria
• Nigeria is a wood country: production processes within the furniture industry are to be improved with German know-how and machinery, in order to reach the required standards and guarantee they are maintained in the future

We provide intensive support for sustainability

• Long-term support to ensure the sustainability of the entire project
• It is crucial to keep up to date on the functionality of the delivered systems
• Local decision-makers must be confidently involved as responsible persons in the project.
• Summary: One requires nerves of steel and the ability to assert oneself and, above all, good connections on site.

Nigeria – quo vadis?

How will things proceed with the laboratory project in Nigeria?

• The project – which began in 2013 – got off to a good start, with several visits to Nigeria by Günter Hecht. The photographs are from visits in 2016.
• Nigerian delegates visited our company, the Ligna Trade Fair and participated in several company tours.
• Meetings also took place with Nigerian delegates at the ICP Training Centre in Minsk.
• There has been intensive email communication and personal contact.
• However, the process was hampered by the economic situation, political and in-party issues, restructuring of hierarchies and a change in terms of responsibilities, which meant having to start from scratch again, with regards to fixed agreements.
• In the summer of 2017, the project finally entered its final phase, after the 40-foot container from HECHT ELECTRONIC, filled to the brim with systems and machinery for the training laboratory, was finally released after spending three months in the customs warehouse in Lagos.
• Our engineers are standing by for assembly, tests, instruction and training.

Ursula Hecht, Project Manager